by Derek Helms
photos by STEVEN HERTZOG
On one of Lawrence’s scorching summer mornings, a rambunctious two year-old black lab named Frankie confidently trots to the counter of Pawsh Wash. Nails freshly trimmed, coat washed and teeth cleaned, Frankie sits, raises his eyebrows and glances at Sarah, his owner.
Frankie waits patiently and his eyes begin to dart between Sarah and the turnstile of handmade treats.
"What," Sarah jokes. "Is looking that good not enough of a treat?"
"Oh, come on," says Amber Nickel, Pawsh Wash owner. "A little treat never hurts."
Sarah concedes, both to Frankie’s cock-eyed plea and Nickel’s subtle urging, and fetches a frosted cupcake.
"Making dogs and their owners happy is such a great feeling," Nickel says. "It’s so cool to do that for a living."
AMBER NICKEL MUST HAVE BEEN A GREAT BARTENDER.
Her smile is omnipresent, she doesn’t let much get to her, and her dry humor keeps others on their toes. After graduating from the University of Kansas with a degree in journalism, she spent days in local media as a producer and nights behind the bar slinging beers to locals.
"You know, I loved bartending," Nickel said. "You meet the most interesting people, hear great stories and become everyone’s best friend."
Amber and her (only slightly) older sister Nicki were both living a good life in Lawrence. Amber was using her degree and havinga blast behind the bar and Nicki was happily employed as a nurse, working at the Douglas County Jail. The two were young and enjoying the world of young professionals. Something kept eating at them, however.
"Following an entrepreneurial spirit is really our family business," Amber said. "The passion and drive to be our own boss was instilled in us by our father at a very young age."
Both girls remember the initiative of their dad, a serial entrepreneur. He was an accountant, restaurateur and consultant.
"He would always tell us ‘if you have a good idea, someone else will probably agree with you."
The girls had the drive, but didn’t know what they wanted to do. A trip to a dog wash in Kansas City with Nicki’s yellow lab changed everything.
"Nicki’s lab is huge," Amber says. "I love Chance (the yellow lab), but washing him in the bathtub or with a hose just, well, it sucked. We heard about a place in Kansas City that had pet washes, so we drove over to check it out. Needless to say, we thought it was pretty awesome."
When the trip to Kansas City to wash Chance became a regular thing, the proverbial light bulb went on. "On the way back we always talked about how dog-friendly Lawrence is," Amber said. "It really seemed like all out friends and neighbors had dogs. That thought led to how great it would be to open a dog wash."
Like most entrepreneurs, Amber and Nicki thought about the idea. A lot.
"We would call each other with ideas and thoughts," Nicki said. "It’s really easy to have the ideas. The work begins when you try to implement them." As expected, the girls’ dad was keenly interested in the idea.
 "The thought of opening a dog wash was really kicked into gear by our dad," Amber said. "He did the research on the actual number of dogs in Lawrence. He sent us these great numbers of pet owners and habits he had found. Seeing those figures really sold us on the idea."
Finding space was tricky. Yes, the shop would need room for industrial cleaners. Yes, the shop would also need space for retail sales. Parking was a must.
"Well," Amber says rather bluntly. "We needed a space that had close proximity to a good spot to poop and pee."
Downtown was scouted, but the thought of clients trying to cross Massachusetts Street with their dogs was disconcerting. The girls even considered buying wagons for clients to use as a transport for their pets. The shop’s current location on Wakarusa, with its proximity to the dog park at Clinton Lake and many family-friendly neighborhoods, was a natural fit.
"It has great parking and green space for poop," Amber says. "As nice as a lawn outside the shop is, it certainly doesn’t eliminate accidents. We joke everyday about it being a two, three or even six or seven poop day."
With a location set, financing secure through a line-of-credit and their own pocketbooks, the sisters took the leap into starting their own business. Pawsh Wash opened in the fall of 2005 as a self-wash dog cleaning company. They offered limited retail, but that has changed.
"People really like the self-wash option," Nicki said. "But we quickly saw a great opportunity to grow by offering full-service cleaning and expanded food and equipment."
The girls and their staff learned the proper and most efficient dog washing and grooming techniques. They increased their pet food supply, improved their selection of leashes and toys and started stocking beautiful gourmet treats. Learning on the job has been the best business lesson the Nickel sisters could as for.
"If we don’t have something you are looking for, let us know," Amber said. "We will find the product, or the best answer to your question. We learned early on that making the customer happy, even if you can’t do it immediately, is absolutely the top priority."
Return customers build the bulk of Pawsh Wash business. Making dogs look good, it turns out, makes their owners very happy.
"We try to be as full-service as we can," Amber said. "A lot of our customers appreciate our proximity to the off-leash dog park. They can take their dog to the park, let him or her run around in the grass and mud and stop here on the way home to clean up and get a treat or fresh bag of food."
Kristin Piper is one of those long-time, loyal customers. She has been bringing her dogs, Simon and Zoe, to Pawsh Wash for 5 years.
"The dogs absolutely love going to Pawsh Wash," Piper said. "I really don’t even consider washing them at home. Once you take your dog to see Amber and Nicki, it’s hard to do it in your house again. My dogs, Simon especially, can be crazy. Having someone else do the dirty work to get them clean is awesome."
The result of a job well done is, well, more jobs. As Pawsh Wash became established in Lawrence, the strains of success started to
creep in. Amber and Nicki had to increase and consistently train staff, increase food orders and buy (over and over) new vacuums.
"If I had known then what I know now," Amber said. "I would have bought stock in vacuum cleaners. Seriously, we go through those suckers!"
As the business continues to thrive, Amber and Nicki have had to make some difficult decisions. The desire to expand services and increase their market share created a need to free some cash. At the beginning of the year, Nicki stepped away from Pawsh Wash and back into her former nursing career.
"It was really a very difficult decision," Nicki said. "I love being with the dogs and helping the customers everyday, but I also missed life in the nursing world. When my old job became available, Amber and I had a long talk."
Nicki is still involved in nearly every aspect of the business and may be even more excited for the future of Pawsh Wash than Amber.
"Well, I miss it everyday," Nicki said. "But I don’t have to clean up dog hair anymore."
Amber has embraced her new role and solo shop director.
"To be an independent business owner, in the town I love, working with people and animals that I love," Amber says. "I’m not sure it gets much better than that."
|
31 Comments
Hi there, just became alert to your blog through Google, and found that it is truly informative. I?m going to watch out for brussels. I will appreciate if you continue this in future. Many people will be benefited from your writing. Cheers!
Thanks for the post.Really looking forward to read more. Keep writing.
obviously like your web site but you need to check the spelling on quite a few of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling issues and I in finding it very troublesome to inform the truth then again I’ll certainly come again again.|
Nice read!
Viagra
Very informative post.
Hello there! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering which blog platform are you using for this site? I’m getting sick and tired of WordPress because I’ve had issues with hackers and I’m looking at options for another platform. I would be great if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.
Have you ever considered about adding a little bit more than just your articles? I mean, what you say is valuable and all. Nevertheless imagine if you added some great pictures or videos to give your posts more, “pop”! Your content is excellent but with pics and clips, this blog could undeniably be one of the very best in its field. Very good blog!
Pornstar
Love your writing style!
Tornado Cash – Best Crypto Platform for Protects Your Crypto in 2025
Thanks for expressing your ideas. One thing is that pupils have a choice between federal student loan as well as a private education loan where it can be easier to opt for student loan online debt consolidation than with the federal student loan.
Hello, i think that i saw you visited my website so i came to ?return the favor?.I am attempting to find things to improve my site!I suppose its ok to use some of your ideas!!
Tornado Cash – Best Crypto Platform for Protects Your Crypto in 2025
How to Swap Tokens on ApeSwap: A Complete Guide 2025
Howdy are using WordPress for your site platform? I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying to get started and set up my own. Do you require any html coding expertise to make your own blog? Any help would be really appreciated!
Fantastic info, thanks!
Tornado Cash – Best Crypto Platform for Protects Your Crypto in 2025
My developer is trying to convince me to move to .net from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the expenses. But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using WordPress on a number of websites for about a year and am anxious about switching to another platform. I have heard great things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can transfer all my wordpress posts into it? Any help would be really appreciated!
My brother recommended I would possibly like this website. He used to be entirely right. This post actually made my day. You cann’t imagine just how so much time I had spent for this info! Thanks!|
How to Swap Tokens on ApeSwap: A Complete Guide 2025
Outstanding post but I was wanting to know if you could write a litte more on this subject? I’d be very thankful if you could elaborate a little bit more. Kudos!|
Great post!
How to Swap Tokens on ApeSwap: A Complete Guide 2025
I just like the valuable information you provide in your articles. I will bookmark your weblog and check once more right here frequently. I’m fairly sure I will be informed plenty of new stuff right here! Best of luck for the following!
Thanks for expressing your ideas. Something is that pupils have an alternative between federal student loan plus a private student loan where it’s easier to go with student loan debt consolidation than with the federal student loan.
This worked for me.
Really love your posts.
Pornstar
Porn
Thanks for your short article. I would love to say that your health insurance specialist also works best for the benefit of the actual coordinators of any group insurance policy. The health broker is given an index of benefits looked for by a person or a group coordinator. Such a broker will is try to find individuals as well as coordinators which usually best complement those requirements. Then he offers his suggestions and if all sides agree, the particular broker formulates legal contract between the two parties.